


Sid/Olli: A Primer

by Snickmeta (Snickfic)



Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: M/M, Meta, Ship Manifesto
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-09
Updated: 2020-03-09
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:34:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 878
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23076346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Snickfic/pseuds/Snickmeta
Summary: Here is a small primer on why you too should ship Sid and Olli for totally evidence-based reasons. Yes.
Relationships: Sidney Crosby/Olli Maatta
Comments: 6
Kudos: 42
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	Sid/Olli: A Primer

**Author's Note:**

> Written and posted to [my Dreamwidth]() in 2018, before we traded Olli. ;__;

First, a story: When I started writing [Nineteen](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12584012) in the summer of 2014, my entire thought process for choosing Sid/Olli as the ship was, "Who would be THE MOST awkward person to find Sid in great heat-related distress in a department store? Oh, Olli, obviously." And then of course I spent two years writing my way around to shipping the characters in that particular fic for real.

HOWEVER. In the time it took me to finish that fic, real life conspired to make Sid/Olli... not a crack ship? This bewilders and delights me to this day. So, here is a small primer on why you too should ship Sid and Olli for totally evidence-based reasons. Yes. 

**Sidney Crosby** : Born 1987. Commonly held to be the Best Player in the World ™. Was the youngest captain in the history of the NHL when he was made captain of the Pens at 19. (This record has since been broken.) Had a really terrible concussion that kept him out almost all of 2011. Is known to be a total hockey nerd, extremely hard-working, and the world’s vaguest and most boring interview. He is, in other words, the Good Canadian Boy of Good Canadian Boys. Probably you already know all about him.

**Olli Maatta** : Born 1994. Finnish baby defenseman. The Pens’ second defensive pick in the 2012 draft. Is known to be very serious, hard-working, and mature for his age. Made the team by surprise in 2013 when he was nineteen, had a stellar season (including leading the entire Finnish national team in minutes on the way to their bronze Olympics medal) until he injured his shoulder. Had shoulder surgery in the offseason. 

Had a terrible 2014-2015 season in which he had thyroid cancer, more shoulder surgery (which ended his season), AND THE MUMPS. Poor kid. :( Had a pretty okay 2015-2016 season, with a high of winning the Stanley Cup and lows of a bruise on his ribs so bad that he still had it nine months later and a concussion so bad he couldn’t even sit up after he was hit. His third NHL season and on a team full of rookie call-ups from WBS, he was still the youngest player on the team when he won the Cup. His stats finally started to recover at the end of the 2016-2017 season, and he had a career year in 2017-2018, finally living up to the hopes we all had of him after his rookie season. 

**The Ship** : Okay, wait, hear me out. First, they both started the NHL super young! They’ve both dealt with major, season-ending injuries. They’re both Olympics medalists, including at the same Olympics - Sid won gold in Sochi with Canada, and Olli won silver with Finland. They’re each so serious about hockey that it’s notable even among other professional hockey players.

In fact, sometimes Olli works so hard that Sid--SID--has to tell him to slow down:

> This kid is as stoic as stoic can be” Barry says. “He’s a piece of Finnish lumber.” On more than one occasion, veteran players like Sidney Crosby have approached strength coaches and front-office officials to ask that someone—anyone—convince the baby-faced blonde to leave the weight room, lest he tire himself out. Forty-five minutes after everyone showered and left, Maatta would still be cranking out sets, insisting, “Okay, just one more. I’m almost done.” ([source](https://www.si.com/nhl/2016/05/31/stanley-cup-playoffs-pittsburgh-penguins-sharks-olli-maatta-cancer-update))

But also, they hang out sometimes! For quite a long time, Olli's social position on the team was a little awkward. In 2014-2015, he was younger than everyone else by several years; the next closest was Beau Bennett, who spent most of the year injured, as was his wont, and didn't get all that many minutes when he was healthy. In late 2015 and early 2016, the team was flooded with youthful call-ups from Wilkes-Barre, but I don't think that helped Olli much, because they _all_ came from Wilkes-Barre, together, as a co-hort, and several of them brought their girlfriends besides. Meanwhile, Sid's longtime girlfriend seems to have been still living elsewhere for most of the year at that time, so Sid was going it alone a lot.

Presumably for these reasons, Sid and Olli hang out a fair bit ~~on dates~~ , or at least they did for a while. For example, here they are some fans in April 2016 (and Olli’s wearing his t-shirt that he wore for his Cup day!) ([Source](http://hockeychickchat.tumblr.com/post/143344263540))  


And here they are in May 2016 at dinner/a bar? Olli looks like he’s already been enjoying himself for a while. ([Source](http://hockeychickchat.tumblr.com/post/145035370175))  


Also sometimes they have very earnest conversations on the ice, which is almost like kissing, right?! ([Source](http://puckducky.tumblr.com/post/141231816314))  


BOYFRIENDS. ([Source](http://ehghtyseven.tumblr.com/post/172861070638/sid-olli-in-the-room-enjoy-the-ride))  


If you need more circumstantial evidence, consider: Olli is a coffee hipster with [a favorite](http://snickfic.tumblr.com/post/168455404311/intermissionpenguins-crosby-nova-scotia-crystal) [hipster coffee shop](http://21streetcoffee.com/), and Sid JUST started drinking coffee in the past couple of years. So, enjoy thinking about Olli dragging Sid along to coffee shops and introducing him to Real Coffee. 

Besides, Olli’s very blond hair and Sid’s dark curls provide such an attractive contrast, do they not? And is it really possible to see rookie!Olli in his fluffy bathrobe and not want to ship him with everyone under the sun? ([Source](https://twitter.com/Du24theboyz/status/414863201524662273))  


I mean really.

In conclusion, Sid/Olli. <3___<3


End file.
